- Four separate warranties come with a standard solar system: panel product, panel performance, inverter, and installer workmanship. Add a battery, and there's a fifth.
- Panel product warranties typically run 10–25 years. Performance warranties usually run 25 years, guaranteeing roughly 80% of the original output at year 25.
- Inverters are the short straw. String inverters commonly carry 5–10 years, and most will need replacing before the panels do.
- Workmanship warranties are usually just 5 years, and that's the one that covers labour, roof penetrations, wiring and call-outs.
- Australian Consumer Law applies on top of every written warranty and has no fixed expiry date.
- A warranty is only as strong as the business behind it. Sine Wave Solar backs every installation with a 20-year workmanship warranty and in-house crews.
A solar system doesn't come with just one warranty. It comes with four, sometimes five, each written by a different company, each covering something different, each expiring at a different time. That's how a Newcastle homeowner with "25-year panels" ends up hundreds of dollars out of pocket in year eight when an inverter dies, and nobody's covering the labour to swap it.
This guide breaks down every solar panel warranty sitting on a standard quote, what quietly voids them, and the questions to ask before you sign anything.
The Four Warranties on Every Solar Quote
1. Panel product warranty
This covers manufacturing defects: delamination, failed junction boxes, faulty cells, and corroded frames. The Australian Government's Solar Consumer Guide notes that for many panels, the product warranty sits between 10 and 15 years, with premium manufacturers now offering 25 years or more.
The catch most people miss? A product warranty usually covers the panel, not the labour to get it off your roof and a replacement back on. Ask who pays for the scaffold, the electrician and the site visit.
2. Panel performance warranty
Panels lose output as they age. A performance warranty caps how much. A standard structure guarantees 90% of rated output at 10 years and 80% at 25 years.
Performance warranties are also the hardest to enforce. You need monitoring data showing your array underperformed the guaranteed curve, with irradiance and shading accounted for. Without production data going back years, the claim rarely gets off the ground, which is one reason ongoing monitoring matters more than homeowners expect.
3. Inverter warranty
The inverter is the hardest-working component in the system and the one most likely to fail first. Typical coverage:
- String inverters: 5–10 years
- Battery and hybrid inverters: 5–10 years
- Rail-mounted micro inverters: 10 years
- Panel-mounted micro inverters: Up to 25 years
Many manufacturers sell extensions at the point of purchase. Buying the extension later usually costs more, or isn't offered at all.
4. Installer workmanship warranty
This covers the installation itself, which involves mounting, roof penetrations, cable runs, isolators, labelling, and the flashing that prevents water from entering your ceiling. The Solar Consumer Guide lists the common workmanship warranty as 5 years.
Five years is a short window for a system designed to run for 25. Leaks, loose rail brackets and degraded DC isolators tend to show up later than that.
5. Battery warranty (if you're adding storage)
Battery warranties run on two clocks at once, and whichever runs out first ends the cover. A typical term is 10 years, a set number of cycles or a stated energy throughput in MWh. Many also include an end-of-warranty capacity figure, which guarantees that the battery still holds, say, 60–70% of its original capacity at the end of the term.
Conditions of use apply too. Some manufacturers limit daily cycling or restrict charging from the grid. Under the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, your battery must remain installed at the property until after 2030 or until the end of the warranty period, whichever is later.
How Solar Warranty Compares Across the Board
What Voids a Solar Panel Warranty
Most voided claims trace back to the same handful of decisions:
- Using a non-accredited installer: Designers and installers must be accredited by Solar Accreditation Australia for a system to be eligible for small-scale technology certificates. No accreditation, no rebate, and manufacturer warranties generally require a compliant install.
- Unapproved products: Panels, inverters and batteries must appear on the Clean Energy Council approved products lists for STC eligibility. A quote that looks unusually cheap sometimes gets there by being left off the list.
- DIY modifications: Adding panels yourself, rewiring a string, or moving an inverter will void the manufacturer's cover and your workmanship warranty.
- Aggressive cleaning: Pressure washers, abrasive pads and harsh chemicals damage the anti-reflective coating and seals.
- Weather damage: Hail, storms and lightning are almost always excluded. That's an insurance matter, not a warranty one.
The Coastal Exclusion That Many Quotes Don't Mention
Salt air is the local variable that catches people out. Panels intended for coastal installation should carry IEC 61701 certification for salt-mist corrosion resistance, and the mounting hardware must match the corrosion category under AS 4312.
If you're in Merewether, Bar Beach, Redhead, Caves Beach or out toward Nelson Bay, this is a specification question to settle before signing. A quick test: look at your letterbox brackets, fence posts and air conditioner cage. Visible rust means you're in a corrosion zone.
Inland across the Hunter Valley, salt is less of a factor and heat, dust and vermin take over as the main durability risks. Around Lake Macquarie, lakeside and ocean-facing streets need the same coastal-grade hardware as Newcastle's beach suburbs.
Why Australian Support Beats a Bigger Number on the Page
A 30-year warranty from a manufacturer with no Australian entity is a phone call to an overseas office and a shipping bill. A 25-year warranty from a brand with an Australian office, local stock and a claims process your installer already uses is the one that gets resolved.
The same logic applies to "Tier 1" panels. Plenty of quotes use the term as if it means premium quality. It doesn't. BloombergNEF's Tier 1 list ranks manufacturers on whether big banks have been willing to finance large projects using their panels. No lab testing, no efficiency measurement, but a read on which companies are financially solid enough to still be trading in a decade.
That's useful information when you're relying on a manufacturer to honour a warranty in 2046. Just don't mistake it for a grade on the panel itself.
The Installer Decides Whether Any of It is Real
The ACCC makes this point directly in its guidance for solar suppliers: representations about warranty length should account for the likelihood that the business will still be around to honour them.
Two other rules from that same guidance change how you should read a quote:
- If you pay one supplier for both the products and the installation, that supplier is responsible for the remedy when something goes wrong, even if they subcontracted the installation.
- If you pay one business for the product and another for the install, the retailer owns product faults, and the installer owns installation faults. That split is exactly where claims stall.
As of the end of 2025, Australia had more than 4.29 million PV installations (Australian PV Institute). A lot of those were sold by operators who no longer trade.
Want to know what your current system is actually covered for? The team at Sine Wave Solar can review your existing paperwork and identify any gaps. Call 1300 871 826 to talk to an expert.
Australian Consumer Law Sits on Top of Everything
Written warranties are extra promises. They sit on top of a floor set by law, and they can't reduce it. Under the Australian Consumer Law, solar suppliers guarantee that:
- The system is of acceptable quality, fit for purpose, and matches its description
- Installation is carried out with due care and skill
- Repairs and spare parts will be available for a reasonable time
These consumer guarantees have no fixed expiry. They apply for a period considered reasonable, given the nature and price of what you bought.
The Process of a Warranty Claim
- You notice something’s wrong, production drops, the inverter throws a fault code, or a monitoring alert lands in your inbox. Systems rarely fail all at once, so the first sign is usually a number that's lower than it should be.
- Call your installer, not the manufacturer. They'll diagnose whether the fault lies with the hardware, the installation, or both. In most cases, they lodge the claim on your behalf. Going directly to the manufacturer first usually sends you back to the installer anyway.
- Ask how the claim is being classified, and get it in writing. A manufacturer claim and a workmanship claim have different people paying for different things. The question to put in an email: who covers the part, and who covers the labour to fit it?
- The manufacturer assesses the fault. Faulty hardware is either returned for inspection or photographed on-site for approval, depending on the brand and component. Turnaround runs from a few days to several weeks.
- The replacement goes in. An installer's workmanship warranty covers site attendance, scaffold, and labour. One without that cover will invoice you for it.
- If it stalls, escalate. NSW Fair Trading handles consumer disputes in this state and can step in when a supplier stops responding. You'll find the contact details through the ACCC's directory of state consumer protection agencies.
Questions to Ask Before You Sign a Solar Quote
- What's your workmanship warranty, in years, and what does it exclude?
- Are your installers employees or subcontractors? Who attends a warranty call-out in year six?
- What's your ABN registration date? (Check it free on the Australian Business Register.)
- Are the panels, inverter and battery on the CEC-approved products lists?
- What's your SAA accreditation number?
- Does the panel carry IEC 61701 certification, and what is the corrosion grade of the mounting hardware?
- Does the manufacturer have an Australian office?
- If a panel fails in year 12, who pays for the removal, replacement and reinstall?
- Is monitoring included, and who watches it?
- Can I see the full warranty documents before signing, not a summary?
NSW Climate and Energy Action recommends that every quote itemise component and installation warranties as standard. If a quote doesn't, that tells you something.
Protecting a 25-Year Investment
Warranty paperwork is only as good as the people standing behind it. Sine Wave Solar has been installing across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter Valley since 2019, with over 1,000 systems completed and every installation handled by our own SAA-accredited crews, no subcontractors passing the buck.
Every system we install carries a 20-year workmanship warranty, four times the industry minimum, plus off-site monitoring so we spot performance drops before you do. We only fit products with a proven track record in Australian conditions and local support.
Ready to talk it through with reliable Newcastle solar panel installers? Call 1300 871 826 or book a free site assessment.
Founder, SAA-accredited installer
Sam has spent over 15 years working as an electrician across Newcastle and the Hunter. He founded Sine Wave Solar to design and install solar and battery systems in-house, from site assessment through to grid connection.
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